9 Found Footage Movies You Should Die Before You See

5. The Gallows

In 1993, a student dies in a hanging stunt gone wrong during the production of a play called The Gallows. 20 years later, the school attempts to put on the play to mark the anniversary of the accident. What can go wrong? For starters, there€™s a bunch of annoying, interchangeable teens (all white, all perfect €“ is this a high school or a modelling agency?) who document everything with cameras, including the sudden arrival of a barely-glimpsed assailant who wields a noose. The usual weird goings on €“ bizarre telephone calls, assaults by an unseen force etc €“ ensue, but the movie does have one neat moment. When a character stares into the camera, you think she€™s about to give a Heather Donahue-style monologue, but then she€™s dragged offscreen by some sinister entity. Yet another found footage from Blumhouse, the production company that also perpetrated the Paranormal Acitivity series, The Gallows is pretty insubstantial stuff. Boring characters run around screaming, the jump scares are routine and a sense of déjà vu hangs over the whole movie. Whatever you do, don€™t help turn this movie into another franchise.